A novel idea : the role of the Temporary Committee on Climate Change in the European Parliament and the European Union

• Main Author: Stockman, Christian
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/13763

This thesis focuses on the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on Climate Change and its function as a political actor in the context of European governance. It illuminates the role of the Committee as a policy-shaping instrument vis-à-vis standing parliamentary committees and elaborates on the significance of its actorness within the EU. The CLIM Committee’s unique horizontal mandate, ability to cut across typical institutional boundaries and considerable influence allowed it to achieve its political objectives. A discussion about CLIM’s creation is presented in the context of institutional spillover, as a dominant aspect of the neo-functional theoretical framework of European integration. An examination of the organization and structure of EP’s committee system as well as the EP’s position in the EU provides a foundation for analysis and evaluation of its accomplishments. The dialogue surrounding the publication of CLIM’s groundbreaking final report also helps to shed light on how the Committee greatly influenced climate change policy in the EU. In addition, CLIM’s innovative structure and operation fostered cooperation between committees that was previously unheard of. This resulted in a new paradigm for information gathering and the addressing of multidisciplinary issues such as climate change that can only be tackled on a supranational plane.